January 2022
Interested in Submitting an Article for the Newsletter?
If you are interested in submitting an article for the newsletter, please email Michael Cummings. Articles should be no more than 1,000 words.
JOB POSTINGS
Our Job Bank webpage is one of our most viewed pages. To see current job openings, go to https://ncdoj.gov/ncja/job-bank/. If your agency has job openings, please complete the Submit New Job form, and we will be glad to advertise it for you on our website.
July 2021 – June 2022 Course Catalog
Are you interested in taking a class offered by the Academy? Then take a look at our course catalog. It’s packed with course offerings, important registration information as well as critical steps needed to receive your official transcript. Access the course catalog here.
NCJA Podcast
NCJA 10-14 is the podcast produced by NCJA. Topics covered include human trafficking, hemp, child advocacy, and more. Don’t worry if you’ve missed an episode. You can listen to or download them at any time on our website or any place you listen to your podcasts.
NCJA Online Bookstore
If you missed the news in our previous newsletter, the NCJA bookstore is up and running. Head over to the Academy Bookstore to see what’s available.
NCJA Library/Research Center
Did you know that you don’t have to be on the Academy’s campus to take advantage of our available criminal justice resources? If you are interested in doing some research, click on the link for the NCJA’s Research Center page. Here you will find links to the Criminal Justice Database, NC LIVE, and freely available reports from the Police Foundation, Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), US DOJ Community Oriented Police (COPS), and more. Note: you will need login credentials to access the Criminal Justice Database and NC LIVE, but these credentials can be obtained by contacting the NCJA Library. You can also reach us by phone at 910.926.6016 or 910.926.6090.
Additionally, we can loan out materials from the library collection and mail them to you. All you need is a library account. Contact us to set up an account if you don’t have one.
TRAINING NEWS
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BLET:
The North Carolina Justice Academy continues to progress in all phases of the Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) Revision Project in accordance with the Job Task Analysis. The Research and Development team continues its assessment, development, and revision of existing lesson plans and new content. Additionally, the North Carolina Justice Academy continues to receive input from various personnel and stakeholders throughout the state and incorporate their recommendations in alignment with the job task analysis. The first pilot of the new BLET is scheduled for July 2022 at Wake Technical Community College. Additional pilot deliveries will follow, with full implementation planned for January 2023.
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DOCC and TCC:
NCJA has begun developing and revising the Detention Officer Certification Course (DOCC) and the Telecommunicator Certification Course (TCC) pursuant to the Job Task Analyses. We anticipate the first DOCC pilot delivery in late 2022, with full implementation planned for early 2023. The first TCC pilot delivery is expected to occur in the Summer of 2022, with full implementation scheduled for the Fall of 2022.
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Leadership Institute:
On November 19, 2021, we celebrated the completion of Session III of the North Carolina Justice Academy’s Leadership Institute. Twenty-two leaders from across the state came together over three months to enhance their knowledge and skills as criminal justice leaders. This event marked the culmination of their efforts. In addition, we celebrated several leaders who completed the NCJA Leadership Certificate Program, a demanding 400-hour accomplishment.
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Internal Affairs:
In partnership with the NC State Bureau of Investigation and the NC State Highway Patrol, Kevin Tingen offered our first “Introduction to Internal Affairs Investigations” course November 9-10, 2021, at the Samarcand Training Academy. Two other deliveries are scheduled for January 2022, one at the NCJA West Campus and one at the Currituck County Public Safety Center. Additional deliveries will be scheduled as well.
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Hate Crimes:
The North Carolina Justice Academy is excited that Hate Crimes training for all North Carolina law enforcement officers is under development in two (2) separate lesson plans: (1) Hate Crimes Awareness and Recognition for Patrol Officers (4 hours); (2) Hate Crimes Investigations (6 hours). An advisory board of law enforcement leaders in the state advises our developer Tom Bashore on specific content for each lesson plan. The advisory board has been meeting regularly via Microsoft Teams. The draft lesson plan for patrol officers is complete and will be reviewed soon. Work on the investigator’s lesson plan is in progress. The training objectives for patrol officers include defining hate crimes, bias crimes, and hate speech. Officers will be exposed to hate crime bias indicators, protected classes of individuals, and information on hate crime-related statutes at the state and federal levels.
Additionally, officers will receive training on hate crime offenders, cursory interview techniques for victims, and specific real-world scenarios to enhance their learning during the course. The advisory board was scheduled to finalize the training objectives for the investigator’s lesson plan during their December 16th meeting. The training objectives for investigators will also include elements from the patrol officer’s lesson plan and information on criminal patterns of behavior, why victims are reluctant to report hate crimes to police, victim trauma interview techniques, and skills to assist in the prosecution of hate crime offenders effectively.
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In-Service:
The North Carolina Justice Academy presented the annual in-service instructor updates this fall. Merrily Cheek coordinates law enforcement-related deliveries, Susan Gillis coordinates telecommunicator-related deliveries, and Amanda Stephenson coordinates the Detention Officer-related deliveries. Previewing the upcoming year’s classes allows the student/instructor to hear directly from the developer, ask questions to aid in their delivery, and help determine which topics of choice agencies may consider offering. Additionally, those attending law enforcement-related instructor updates received credit towards their law enforcement 2022 mandated in-service training requirements.
TRAINING’S NEW POSITIONS FUNDED
The North Carolina Justice Academy is excited that the recent budget approved by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed by Governor Cooper provides the East Campus Training Division with two new instructor positions. One of these positions will focus primarily on curriculum and online criminal justice-related training development. The other position will focus mainly on the use of force curriculum development and training delivery, including duty to intervene, de-escalation, Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT), etc.
PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Haley Cooper (Attorney) began working at NCJA on September 27, 2021. Haley will support our curriculum reviews, development, revision, and delivery of various legal topics such as Police Law Institute, K9 Law, Search & Seizure, Personnel Law, Search Warrants, etc.
Sarah Livingston (Quality Assurance) began on December 6, 2021. Sarah will be supporting the Academy’s development of training and the maintenance of curriculum and supporting documents within various courses. This position works closely with multiple training coordinators supporting the NCJA’s mission.
Melinda McClenny began in January of 2021 and is assigned to the online training development team but has agreed to assist Susan Gillis in delivering the Telecommunicator Certification Course. Melinda is the former communication center manager for Sampson County 9-1-1 and will do an excellent job supporting Susan.
Alice Butler has decided to retire effective January 2022. Alice is assigned to the online training development team and has been a critical part of the team’s success. While we wish Alice an enjoyable retirement, we will undoubtedly miss her dedication to the organization and her attention to producing content that is R.I.T.E. Congratulations, Alice!
SUPPORT SERVICES UPDATES
RESIDENCE HALL B IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The renovation of Residence Hall B began in July 2021 and is now being reconfigured to the new design. Residence Hall B is scheduled to be completely renovated and open in July 2022. There is still a long way to go, but everything is on schedule.
SUPPORT BUILDING RENOVATION
Recently, our Support Building that houses the Bookstore, Printshop, and Registrar was renovated. All offices were cleaned out to make room for fresh paint, new carpet, and much-needed office furniture for staff.
Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Coming to NCJA
Arron Stevens
Instructor/Developer, NCJA (Salemburg)
As the school director for subject control training at NCJA, I am always searching for new techniques and methodologies to include in the training we offer on campus and the development of the curriculum used around the state. Numerous law enforcement agencies have incorporated jiu-jitsu into their defensive tactics training in the past several years. The application focuses on surviving attacks and subduing a subject using the minimum force required through various jiu-jitsu techniques. Over the past several months, I received training and certifications as a Level 1 and Level 2 GST (Gracie Survival Tactics) Instructor through the Gracie University in Torrance, California, taught by Rener and Ryron Gracie.
As a result of this training, on December 29th, NCJA piloted the Gracie Survival Tactics Basic Officer Course at Salemburg. This basic officer course combines techniques from the level 1 and level 2 courses to give officers a foundation of control tactics in subject control and officer survival situations.
The pilot course was an 8 hour training day that included officers and current BLET trainees from several agencies in North Carolina. It was met with amazingly positive reviews from all of the students involved in the training. The students believe that the GST techniques were easier to learn and more relevant than their previous subject control and defensive training. The students expressed that the most valuable tool they were taught was in the Gracie methodology of preserving the officer’s energy while controlling the subject and allowing more time to choose the best follow-up course of action.
Instructor Arron Stevens demonstrating one of the techniques taught in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Course.
Remember to like us on Facebook and Twitter to get daily updates and pictures from our classes. Also, feel free to call or email me with your suggestions for training. We are here for you!
Trevor Allen, NCJA Director
Phone: 910-525-4151
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